Aphorism and maxim

Use in the book

Joubert’s explicit definition requires exact and noble expression of an important, incontestable truth. But the form does not guarantee that it achieves this ideal: error speaking in maxims issues deceptive oracles, and assertion can deceive through authority. The image of coining wisdom emphasizes transmission and retention. In the Locke-reading note, maxims guide and even “save blindly” without enlightening: the nighttime compass and labyrinth-thread maintain the difference between practical guidance and understood reasons. These contexts explain the power of the form without certifying every compact sentence as wisdom.

Places to read

1. II, p. 857, entry 1, ¶1A maxim receives a demanding explicit definition.
2. II, p. 766, entry 9, ¶1The aphoristic form can give error deceptive authority.
3. I, p. 218, entry 10, ¶1Wisdom is coined into transmissible maxims, proverbs and sayings.
4. I, p. 264, entry 6, ¶2Maxims can guide without providing illumination.

Translation in this edition

The English translation renders sentence as maxims in the error passage and as sayings in the coinage image. The title Aphorism is an English organizing term, not a claim that Joubert labels all his notebook entries aphorismes. The Locke material is translated from the French printed here, with source-editor framing separate.

Epigram

French: épigramme.

The epigram appears in a sequence of forms whose attraction can seem to generate their supposed subject: blame for the epigram, praise for the madrigal, judgment for the witticism. The criticism concerns an inversion of form and matter, not every use of a short pointed poem. The English translation retains epigram and the fragmentary opening; the damaged ending after sentence[…] remains unexplained rather than supplied with a connector.

Places to read: II, p. 635–636, entry 12, ¶1.